Southwood helps England to 8-1 win

10 November 2016

Young stopper keeps second half clean sheet in Continental Cup rout

18-year-old Royals keeper Luke Southwood kept a clean sheet in the second half of an 8-1 drubbing of Nigeria in as England Under-20s got off to a stunning start in the Continental Cup out to South Korea yestwerday.

Paul Williams brought Southwood on for Grimsby's Dean Henderson at the break and there was no way past the Reading youngster as England coasted to victory thanks to a hat-trick from Adam Armstrong.

Nigeria, Iran and the host nation in a four-nation round robin tournament – and it acts as a precursor for the Under-20 World Cup next summer, which is also held in South Korea.

Southwood played a match and a half for England’s Under-20s in their recent four-nation triumph – he didn’t need to make a single trip to his net during his time on the pitch, as they beat Netherlands, Germany and USA on home turf.

Southwood's England face the host nation at the Suwon World Cup Stadium today, before a clash with Iran on Saturday morning.

Elsewhere, Zak Jules started and Jake Sheppard came off the bench for a very young Scotland Under-21 side last night in defeat to a Slovakia outfit preparing for the European Under-21 Championships this summer.

Slovakia finished first in Qualifying Group 8 last month, ahead of The Netherlands and Turkey, and they proved their quality with a 4-0 win in Myjava.